I will give you thumbs up for sure, please help me.

Intellectual Property Case Study

Fact: Sydney is the marketing manager for Duluth Pack, a company located in Duluth, Minnesota, adjacent to Superior, Wisconsin, making canvas soft goods like backpacks, briefcases, and purses. Check them out at www.duluthpack.com.While the business has been operating for some time, they have recently had some questions regarding how they might better protect their firms intellectual property and whether they may have violated anyone elses intellectual property rights. They also have a new product line of canvas packs that she would like to name the TUMP LINE (because of the addition of a true tumpline -- a strap that goes across the top of the head to transfer the weight of the load off your shoulders) to the top of several of the packs. The folks at work each prefer different names and are having a hard time agreeing. They are anxious to select a name because they want to start printing marketing materials with the name, logo, and slogan.

They are considering the following names for their new product;

Tumpline Pack

Trumpline Pack

Carryon Pack

Carry on Wayward Son Pack

Frost River Pack

Superior Pack

Souptown Pack

Rucksack Pack

Headstrong Pack

South Butt Pack

Considering the above, answer the following questions:

1. What types of intellectual property do you think are most valuable to Duluth Packs business? List at least two types and explain what value they provide.

2. Describe at least one example of a trade secret that Duluth Pack may have that likely needs some degree of protection.

3. Does it strike you as fair that trade secrets and trademarks have an unlimited term but that copyrights and patents expire after a set number of years? Why do you think there is a difference?

4. Think about your own favorite products or where you may have brand loyalty to a product or service. How does the trademark or service mark affect your purchasing decisions, and why?

5. If Frost River is a federally registered trademark owned by one of their competitors, will that prevent Duluth Pack from registering Frost River Pack for their intended business use? What if its not a federally registered mark? Are they simply free to use it then?

6. Considering only trademark law, which of the ten proposed names would you suggest Sydney avoid? Do you have a strong recommendation about which of the marks is best? Describe your reasons why.

7. Duluth Pack also wants to choose a new slogan for this line of packs and is considering the following: Its tremendous to Don A Trumpline Pack! or Try our Souptown Pack, its Mmm Mmm good! The South Butt Pack, Never Stop Relaxing. Do you see any issues in using these slogans? Explain.

8. While an important piece of marketing is choosing a product name, the folks at Duluth Pack also want to choose a new type of logo just for this line of packs. They have initially decided on a hiker symbol. Do you see any issues in using a hiker symbol? Explain.

9. If Sydney were to find an article in a health magazine describing that use of a tumpline on ones pack can significantly reduce the lower back strain and injuries while hiking, can they post the article directly on their website? What (if anything) limits their right to do so?

10. Based on what you know of patent laws after reading this chapter, if Sydney thought they should try to patent the tumpline, what would you advise her? In looking at patent law, which of the requirements for a patent would likely be the most difficult for Duluth Pack to prove?

11. How much does patenting something cost? (Dont spend too much time on this question, just give an estimate).